So will I go down the traditional route, or the "modern" route? As I'm a bit unsure as of yet I am going to dedicate this post to analysing the wording of invitations. I feel that the invitations I have analysed previously didn’t really show any similarities apart from displaying the parent of the daughter’s names and the couple’s names, and although I wrote the structure of each invitation I want to be completely sure I know what I'm doing.
Analysing Designs
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| http://www.behance.net/gallery/Romantic-Bohemian-Wedding-Invitation/7477961 |
Saturday, the ninth of June
Two thousand and twelve
At six o'clock ...."
Structure:
- Names of parents (daughter)
- Couple's names
- Name of son's parents
- Date - written in full
- Time
- Location
Conclusion: This invitation has been written out very formally, which is perhaps something that would be seen in a royal wedding invitation. This could quite possibly work for my design as well if I want to aim for something really formal.
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| http://www.behance.net/gallery/Kate-Alex/6638171 |
Structure:
- "Together with their families"
- Names of couple (daughter first)
- Date in full
Conclusion:
This one is a lot more informal than the other two, as it is the couple themselves inviting the guest over. When I looked at the design overall I noticed that it was very casual and friendly, which could reflect the nature of the wedding.
"Once upon a time a girl met a boy and they fell in love just like a page out of a storybook... Samantha Anderson and Matthew Jackson request the honour of your presence as they begin their happily ever after...etc..."
Structure:
- Short story
- Names of couple (daughter first)
- "Request the honour of your presence"
- Date and time in full
- Location
- Reception to follow
Conclusion: I really like how they've written it out because it immediately sets the mood for a fairy tale, even though it's just in one sentence. As soon as I read the words "Once upon a time" I was immediately transported to a magical kingdom.
After looking at the invitation above I decided to see if there were any other variations of such "Once Upon A Time" wedding invitations, as I really do think that those few words set the mood of a fairy tale wedding.
Once Upon A Time
http://www.luulla.com/product/8638/fairy-tale---once-upon-a-time---wedding-invitation-suite
Now even though "Once Upon a Time" is upon Save The Date card, I really like how they worded this to form a very short story (like those showcased at the beginning of Disney films). At the top they have written "Chapter One" which further emphasises the fairy tale atmosphere, and onto the actual invitation they have labelled that "Chapter Two" and it says how the guest is invited.
Invitation: "With joyous hearts Mr and Mrs Pecks invites you to the marriage of their daughter, Emily Pecks to Michael Taylor, son of Mr and Mrs Taylor."
Structure:
- Mr & Mrs (daughter's parents)
- Names of couple
- Mr & Mrs (son's parents)
- Date and time in full
- Location
- Reception to follow at... etc..
- "We hope you can join us on this day"
Conclusion: I would love to do a design like this one, especially because they would all come together to form a love story.
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| http://www.invitatiousdesign.com/portfolio/once-upon-a-time-invitation/ |
This design is quite similar to the one above although all of the details are displayed on one page. The main invitation is the one with "Once Upon A Time" on it and there is no sign of a Save the Date...
Also like the one above these two designs are quite simple, especially the R.S.V.P, and yet the connection between them is very clear because of having used the same border, colour scheme, and typestyles.
Structure:
- Short story
- "They now request with their families..."
- Names of couple (daughter first)
- Date and time in full
- Location
- Dinner & merriment afterwards
Conclusion: I quite like how they've managed to fit all of the information on one side of the invitation although I find that it could be quite hard to pick out the date etc at a glance.
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| http://www.onewed.com/photos/show/neon-pink-wedding-invitations-fairytale-theme |
The pointer I mentioned above about not being able to pick out the main details at a glance have been sorted out in this wedding design, as they have highlighted those with a neon pink. This could perhaps reflect the colour scheme of the wedding as a whole (although I find it to be too pink in my opinion).
Structure:
- One sentence like a story
- Names of daughter's parents
- Daughter & Son - first names only
- Names of son's parents
- Time in full
- Date in full
- Location
- Reception to follow but in detail
- Theme - what to wear
Conclusion: I think that this invitation is too wordy, because even I couldn't be bothered to read all of the writing. However I think that the designer has made it easier to read through by highlighting the main points in neon pink.
I find that the structure is quite strange because they have displayed nearly everything differently: they've included the full names of the parents but only the first names of the couple; they wrote the time first and then the date; they wrote about the reception; and they've also written what to wear to the wedding! I think that although writing what to wear is helpful... Well, I haven't seen it on any other invitation before.
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| http://www.minted.com/product/wedding-invitations/MIN-42P-INV/once-upon |
Structure:
- Once upon a time
- Names of couple - female first
- Date & time in full
- Name of location (no address)
Conclusion: This one is pretty minimalist compared to all those I have looked at so far, and I believe that this has been proven to be effective as there is plenty of space for all of the important details to be displayed on one page.
However they haven't included any mention of their parents, so this might mean that they - the couple - had to pay for the wedding themselves and had organised everything. They didn't mention the address for the place either... Maybe it's displayed elsewhere?
Wedding Invitations done by Wedding Companies
I’ve now decided to take a look at some “real” designs done by wedding companies so that I would know exactly what they write on traditional invitations.
Bride & Groom Weddings - http://www.brideandgroomdirect.co.uk/
I had listed this site in my proposal, saying that I would look into it during my research and now’s the time to take a look!
I'm going to put all of their invitations in one mood board so that I could analyse them as a whole and figure out the similarities.
From left to right: http://www.brideandgroomdirect.co.uk/product/romance-invitation#colour=19 http://www.brideandgroomdirect.co.uk/product/simplicity-invitation#colour=19 http://www.brideandgroomdirect.co.uk/product/purity-invitation#colour=19 http://www.brideandgroomdirect.co.uk/product/bella-invitation#colour=11 http://www.brideandgroomdirect.co.uk/product/vintage-rose-invitation#colour=12 http://www.brideandgroomdirect.co.uk/product/empire-evening#colour=91
Okay so let's take a look at their structures individually because I can then draw up conclusions of their structures overall.
1)
- Full names of couple (including middle names)
- Location including street names
- Date in full
- Time - simplified (11.30am)
- Followed by reception
- R.S.V.P - address
2)
- Mr & Mrs - names of daughter's parents
- Daughter's name - first and last name
- Groom's name - first, middle and last name
- Location including street names
- Date in full
- Simplified time
- Reception and address of reception
- R.S.V.P - written as "please reply to" - address
3)
- Mr & Mrs - names of daughter's parents
- Daughter's name - first and last name
- Groom's name - first, middle and last name
- Location including street names
- Date in full
- Simplified time
- Reception and address of reception
- R.S.V.P - written as "please reply to" - address
4)
- Mr & Mrs - names of daughter's parents
- Daughter's name - first and last name
- Groom's name - Mr. first and last name
- Location including street names
- Date in full
- Simplified time
- Reception and address of reception
- R.S.V.P - written as "please reply to" - address
5)
- Mr & Mrs - names of daughter's parents
- Daughter's name - first and last name
- Groom's name - Mr. first and last name
- Location including street names
- Date in full
- Simplified time
- Reception and address of reception
- R.S.V.P - written as "please reply to" - address
6)
- "Love fills a lifetime..."
- Bride's name - first and last
- Groom's name - Mr. first, middle and last
- Date in full
- Simplified time
- Location - street names
- "Please join us on this special occasion"
Conclusion:
So overall there is a basic structure to all of their wedding invitations; the daughter's name goes before the groom's name; they write parent's names as "Mr & Mrs"; on most of them the location comes before the dates; the location is there but without a post code; the date is written in full whereas the time is just e.g. 11.30am; and on most there is a small R.S.V.P section.
As I have mentioned above I would like to do something starting with "Once upon a time", so my design might be similar to the last design where they have opened it with a short story (although I'm thinking of doing mine in more than one sentence). If I do follow that structure however mine would look like this; the small opening, the bride's and groom's names, date in full, simplified time, location (perhaps including a post code), and something to say that the couple would be delighted for their guest to attend.
Paperchain Wedding Stationary - http://www.paperchainweddingstationery.co.uk/
This was another website I had written down to look at in my proposal.
From left to right: http://www.paperchainweddingstationery.co.uk/Collections_elegance.htm http://www.paperchainweddingstationery.co.uk/Collections_florence.htm http://www.paperchainweddingstationery.co.uk/Collections_lovebirds.htm
Unlike the one above, I shall do an overall breakdown of their structures because when I took a look at them I realised that they were all the same!
- Name of couple - Woman first, man last (first and last names)
- (Insert guest name)
- Location in full including post code
- Full date and simplified time
- "Followed by reception" - full address
Conclusion:
So these invitations show that it's the bride and groom arranging these weddings which is getting more and more popular nowadays as people want to break tradition from having the bride's parents arrange it all. They are also more personalised because it seems that these invitations would actually include the name of the guest on them, which is something I haven't seen in previous invitations.
These invitations are a lot more spaced out than the others because there's no sign of any elaborate decoration inside of the invite - because it's a three-fold one so there would be a design on the front - although there is a little icon at the top.
Even though I do like how they've laid everything out I find it a bit too minimalist to use it as inspiration for my fairy tale themed invitation, although I do like how they've included the guest names on there.
Overall conclusion:
I find that by looking at the wording on a variety of invitations has helped me to figure out what I would need to write on mine, and I've also seen a basic structure that connects them all together:
- The parent's name would be first if they are the ones arranging the wedding and if not the names of the couple would be at the top
- The date would be written in full and (sometimes) the time
- The location would come afterwards
- And most have a "reception to follow" section
Some of these invitations don't include an R.S.V.P, and this is probably because that would be on a separate slip.
Because I'm designing for a fairy tale themed wedding I need to think of how I'm going to make it seem like a fairy tale simply through words. So, as I've mentioned above, I'm going to start it with a "Once upon a time" and then list all of the details I've written in the bullet points.
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